There are many people living hopeless lives, and some go to the extreme of committing suicide. Dante's poem imagines the supposed inscription at the entrance to hell: "Abandon every hope, you who enter in." It is amazing that those on earth with no hope would hasten their way towards that place with no hope. However, …
Category: Bible Exegesis
Academic exegesis
Academic exegesis is that form of interpretation which copies academics or authority figures. The Lord Jesus Christ cut through this in His teaching. Academic exegesis is seen in the translation of several biblical passages. Bible versions are the product of teams of academic translators pooling their collective knowledge to produce a final decision on the …
Do you honour Jesus Christ as Lord?
What sort of honour do you give to Jesus Christ, and to what extent? Many people know that He claims to be the Son of God, but this washes over many of them as if it is just another item of news. Rather, it is so significant that it cannot be ignored and deserves to …
The majority of mankind will be saved
The majority of mankind will be saved – will you be among them? It is not uncommon to hear the depressing and unbiblical doctrine that only a minority of the human family will arrive in heaven. Various biblical texts are wrongly used to support this unbiblical idea. Jesus was asked: "Are there few that be …
Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospel
Patrick’s Places – the difference between Law and Gospel by Patrick Hamilton, 1527. Patrick Hamilton was Scotland’s first Reformer and martyr, burned at the stake by Roman Catholic cardinal Beaton at St Andrews in 1528 for preaching the Gospel. Of noble birth, he graduated MA from the College of Montaigu, Paris, in 1520 and enrolled …
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Sermon on Acts 13:26
‘Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you fears God, to you is the word of this salvation sent’ Act 13:26. God's salvation is sent to you. The Holy Spirit sends the Gospel to all who hear it and offers salvation freely to them. This makes the Gospel of Jesus …
Mistakes in exegesis and eisegesis
There are many mistakes in exegesis. One of the commonest is to substitute eisegesis for exegesis. One's opinion is not exegesis. Exactly what constitutes eisegesis remains a source of debate among theologians, but most scholars agree about the importance of determining the intention of the original penman as a basis for exegesis. One of the …
Metaphors and exegesis
Biblical exegesis is a wonderful God-given skill. It enables the exegete to draw out of Scripture the meaning intended by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to imposing on Scripture a meaning that the reader has already determined (eisegesis -reading into Scripture one's own prejudices). There are many principles for exegesis, but one of them is …
A summary of the opening chapters of Ezekiel
To understand Scripture, one needs to understand texts and passages in context. So a summary of Scripture chapters can be very useful to help us understand the context. I have been doing so for years for my Bible commentary, an on-going work that will probably be published posthumously. However, this does not prevent extracts coming …
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What do we do about confusion in congregational preaching?
Intelligent listeners will notice differences in teaching between preachers even in the same denomination, as well as between denominations. The right of private judgment is permitted to Christians, but the continuous and unchallenged preaching of different doctrines only leads to confusion in congregations - and God is not the author of confusion 1Cor 14:33. So …
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